Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, has withdrawn her name for consideration for the position of US secretary of state.

Rice was in the running to replace current Hillary Clinton who will step down from her post in January.

The envoy, who is close to US President Barack Obama, had been the target of Republican attacks on the administration's handling of the raid on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 this year.

Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, said Rice has become "a huge political liability for the Obama administration" since the US consulate attack in Benghazi.